2. Esther
ESTHER
“Are you sure you want to pick a fight with me, girl?” one of the soldiers snarks, sharing a look of disgust alongside two of his friends.
I hate Dahlia’s men, and although she’s Master Kain’s cousin and only visiting, her men deserve the same respect she’s revered for.
None. They’re only as cruel and condescending as their leader, and at some point, someone has to teach them a lesson.
We’ve drawn the attention of the crowded tavern. I let my fingers trail over the handle of my blade that I’ve slammed into the table, barely missing his fingers as he reached out to make his claim over the pile of coppers.
“I’ll repeat it again—you’re a fucking cheat,” I declare, leaning over the table.
“You know we serve Dahlia, yes? Then perhaps you should find a different tone before you lose your tongue,” one of the other soldiers berates, puffing out his chest as if the deep red of his leather armor isn’t enough of an indication compared to our soldiers’ blue.
Either way, I don’t give a fuck; I know the money on the table is mine.
“Here, it doesn’t matter who you are. A cheat is a cheat,” I say with a shit-eating grin.
The first soldier finally stands, wrapping his hand around the handle of his sword.
I try to hide my smile, immediately sensing his overcompensation—most likely for a tiny dick.
In an attempt to be more threatening, he shrugs off his long, red-pelted jacket, purposefully showcasing the intricate tattoo on his arm.
This guy has a contract with a beast? Curiosity gets the better of me.
I wonder what beast he has. Although Master Kain has advised me against probing around anyone’s magic, I have yet to meet someone who feels my gentle inquiry.
My invisible chains instinctively feel him out, the immediate scorch of fire touching them—though he’s not half as impressive as he thinks he is.
If I could use magic in front of others, I’d absolutely destroy him, even when I only know a tidbit of fire magic.
He might be a greer, but his two friends on either side are human, bound only by blood and mortality.
“I think you should apologize,” the fire greer says.
This time, I do snort a laugh. “You don’t know me very well.”
“Judging by the worn down threads you’re wearing, I’d say you’re no more than a commoner. We’re leagues apart. You should be taught your place.”
The onlookers in the tavern watch curiously, and the soldier might think he has the upper hand because no one will stand in for my sake, but that’s because they know there’s no need.
“Or maybe you’re just trying to get my attention. Wanting to play a little after this game, ey?” he says arrogantly, reaching out for my face.
When his fingers are only a hair’s breadth from grazing my face, I grab his hand with lightning speed, yanking him closer toward me.
The coppers spill over the table, his men immediately jump back and bring out their swords as I leap onto the table, pinning my knee on the back of the soldier’s head with my knife held to his throat.
I yank him up by the hair. “Your kind’s not welcome here, especially if you intend to steal.”
“You crazy fucking bitch! Do you know who we are? We are part of Dahlia’s personal guard and—”
I press my blade further into his throat, producing a singular crimson droplet. “That’s nice, and I’m the woman with a knife to your throat.”
His tattoo glows a bright ethereal blue, but before his beast can appear, a voice booms from the door. “I wouldn’t if I were you. It’s illegal in Caldom Kingdom to use any beast to fight within its walls,” Barbados, Kain’s military commander, says. “Only few have permits.”
The energy in the room shifts, and the subtle blue of markings grow bright on his arms as two wolves the size of horses materialize, baring their teeth and circling in on their prey.
“That, and Esther is very special to me,” another voice comes from the shadows, and my heart skips a beat.
I turn and see two bright-blue eyes piercing the darkness under his leather hood, strands of ash-blond hair peeking through, and the bottom half of his face concealed by a mask.
His twin blades are at both men’s throats.
They never stood a chance. Blaze isn’t seen until he wants to be, courtesy of his magic-infused leathers that hide his presence.
“You’re back!” I exclaim excitedly, slamming the guy’s head into the table, coppers falling to the floor as I jump off and into Blaze’s arms. He catches me immediately, the smell of dirt and smoke making my nose flare.
Even under the dull candlelight, I can see the dried blood on his leathers, but I’ve never cared about any of that—it means he came to find me right away upon returning.
“Just in time to see you up to no good again, it would seem.”
I push off him with a devilish smile.
“I suggest you leave,” Barbados says as he walks over, crossing his bulky arms. Markings dance across his arms and chest; he’s one of few in the kingdom who is an exception to having a contract with a beast, but only because of the clan he came from.
Although Master Kain’s ruling forbids beast contracts within the city, it doesn’t negate the fact that outsiders still have them.
And only a few, such as Barbados, are permitted to use them within the kingdom.
His wolves are mighty, one a pitch-black male with dark-brown eyes, the other silver in color, a slightly smaller female, but no less fierce.
I’m not entirely sure how Barbados was able to contract with two beasts, since even greers have limits and can’t usually contract more than one.
But there are always exceptions to nature’s law that binds us.
Besides, I won’t look into his business if he doesn’t look too closely into mine.
The fire greer holds his nose, blood oozing between his fingers as he looks to his men with tears in his eyes.
It appears as if he’s about to do something rash until he catches the wolf emblem on Barbados’s armor, if the snarling wolves weren’t enough of a deterrent.
Picking a fight with the commander of Caldom’s army might not be the best idea, and it would seem the asshole has some kind of brains because he blurts out, “This won’t be the last you hear from me.
” Then he all but runs out of the tavern with his two friends.
Barbados waits until they leave before recalling his beasts that evaporate, and his markings return to black tattoos instead of the blue hue when they’re activated.
“You could’ve at least taken it outside,” Barbados chides. His black hair is sprinkled with more gray since I last saw him. Those light-blue, almost-gray eyes peer down at me, unimpressed.
I casually shrug. “It all just happened so fast, you see.”
“As all things do with you, apparently. I thought you were lectured only a week ago about picking fights.”
“She’s fine. They were being right idiots,” Calla, the tavern owner, says. “Now, take your seats and I’ll bring you all some ale. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you here, Commander. I was starting to think you were too good for us.”
He releases a weary smile. “I’ll have to decline. I’m due to report back to the king, but I will make sure to stop by when I next have time. As for you”—he redirects his attention to me—“you’re lucky word travels fast. Don’t go picking fights with Dahlia’s soldiers.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, doing my best to pretend to be agreeable.
I know he’s right, but I hate how that threat has so much power over us, that men like those can come in and talk shit all day about our king’s “outdated practices” because he chooses peace over chaos.
Men like them should be treated with a dagger to the throat.
We wait until Barbados takes his leave, Blaze watching him carefully as he always does.
I don’t know what history the two have, but the tension could be cut with a knife.
Once he’s gone, I sit down to scrape up the coppers.
Blaze removes his leather hood and dislodges the bottom half of his mask with a shit-eating grin. “They didn’t cheat, did they?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say as I take my seat, sheathing my blade.
Calla walks over with two ales. “Right idiots they were,” she says as she places her hand on my shoulder. “It makes us uneasy when folks like them come in, so thank you for shooing them away.”
I raise a pointed brow in Blaze’s direction. “See? I’m a hero.” Calla smacks the back of my head. “Ow.”
“Don’t get cocky. We’re grateful, but also if you’d started a fight in here and broken more of my shit, it would’ve been your last time coming through these doors,” she huffs, and the regulars chuckle as I rub the back of my head.
“I leave only for a month and stumble upon you causing trouble. Why am I not surprised?” Blaze says as he reaches over and picks up my wrist. I didn’t realize, but there’s a small splatter of blood on it. Not mine. His thumb rubs over it thoughtfully, and my heartbeat quickens.
What if he sees this ugly thing inside me?
I pull my wrist back with a coy smile. “You’re back sooner than I thought you’d be.
” I don’t know anyone who could take down Blaze.
Even as a human with no magic, he’s smart and fast, and that’s precisely why he’s Master Kain’s dependable assassin.
But more importantly, he’s one of four people within these walls who knows what I am—and whom I trust.
“You drank too much again,” Blaze grumbles his complaint with hands in pockets as he follows me through the cobblestone archway. Water runs below the narrow bridge we cross. He sounds more like a man in his fifties than someone only four years older than me.